What The F*** Is The Metaverse?

Special guest Gregg Leonard joins this episode to discuss the future of digital accessibility and AI content generation. Gregg and his wife Astrid Reed are co-founders of AVA Inclusivity, Inc. The AVA Inclusivity team combines their expertise in audio/visual technology and historic site preservation to create virtual accessibility solutions that allows the highest quality experience for both onsite visitors with disabilities as well as remote exploration. Gregg is also a composer, producer, and sound designer for film and media. In the second half of the podcast, we discuss his thoughts on emerging media generation technologies such as DALL-E and GPT-3.Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening!Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

Ex-Apple engineer Tony Fadell says "f--- the metaverse" and "the metaverse is wrong." - Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg is cutting back on his metaverse-focused AR/VR division. Meta will “slow the pace of some of our investments” due to slower growth than what was forecasted. However, Meta still plans on a 2022 launch of “Project Cambria”, its high-end VR headset focused on mixed reality. Also discussed on this podcast is Google's I/O event ending with a teaser of its upcoming AR glasses, how tribal rituals could help guide the metaverse, the future of Web3 buzzwords, and more metaverse-related topics!Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

A variety of topics are discussed including “algospeak”, metaverse interoperability, creating a digital twin of the earth, LEGO's new metaverse investments in collaboration with Epic Games, centralized vs decentralized moderation, new smart cities integrating the metaverse, how Apple may have an advantage over Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, and more! Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

This week, Citibank analysts predict that the metaverse economy could be worth $13 trillion by 2030, Wendy's has entered the metaverse, Zuckerberg's “Meta/Facebook” is caught being evil, AR/VR has starting consuming reality, and augmented reality glasses startup “Nreal” has raised $60M in funding led by Alibaba. Also, Brett explains the future of linear narrative and "Storyworlding" - these topics and more on this week's episode!Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New podcast episodes every week.Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

On this episode, we discuss how the Oscars could be broadcasted from the metaverse, how the Oscars could utilize advanced AI technology and/or decentralized autonomous organizations, a mind reading tech startup recently acquired by Snap, the latest crypto theft, the development of environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies, and the implications of living forever in the metaverse!Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New podcast episodes every week.Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

Big metaverse news this week! We discuss a reported $1 billion investment from Google into an augmented reality startup, Accenture weighing in on the metaverse and even Heineken Beer doing a marketing stunt inside Decentraland. Plus, other metaverse-related topics!Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week.Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

It's a metaverse land rush! On this episode of the podcast, top metaverse news is discussed, such as CVS and Red Bull's recent metaverse trademarks. Father and son also debate the pros and cons of NFT's, why prominent tech reporters think that the metaverse may never exist, and the health opportunities - and impacts - of metaverse technology. In this wide-ranging conversation, the immersive digital world's implications relating to government control and even autonomous vehicles are also deliberated! Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week.Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

Director Brett Leonard celebrates the 30th Anniversary of his film Lawnmower Man with son Shannon in a discussion about its themes, and how it relates to the true nature of the emerging Metaverse. Father and son also unpack Mark Zuckerberg's recent lengthy interview on Lex Fridman's podcast, and Brett reveals publicly for the first time how he plans for a democratized Metaverse to be at the center of an innovative A.I.-driven storyworlding process for his follow up to Lawnmower Man, on this special 30th Anniversary of Lawnmower Man episode!Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter.Original theme music by Gregg Leonard.Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

Putin's horrific attacks on cities and civilians in Ukraine weighs heavy on the hearts of Brett and Shannon. In this episode, father and son discuss the relevance of the "digital world" during wartime. The conversation leads into AI moderation, the importance of developing ethical frameworks, and how different generations receive news in the “Metaverse” era. Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter. Original theme music by Gregg Leonard.Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

Disney has announced it is investing in the metaverse, believing it to be the next stage of its nearly 100-year-old storytelling tradition! J.P. Morgan claims that it's the first bank in the metaverse! In addition to covering the latest metaverse news, father and son co-hosts debate the implications of young children using VR to enter the metaverse. Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter.Original theme music by Gregg Leonard.Send us your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

Brett Leonard and his son Shannon discuss YouTube's announcement of potential “Metaverse” features… and explain what that actually means! Also, father and son share their viewpoints on last week's huge $450 million investment into Web3 “decentralized technology”. Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter.Original theme music by Gregg Leonard.Send your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com

In the first episode of “What The F*** Is The Metaverse?” father and son discuss the motives of Mark Zuckerburg, Meta's investment into virtual reality technology, and setup the show with some key questions and perspectives!Brett Leonard is a veteran Hollywood film director known for introducing the concept of Virtual Reality to popular culture with his hit film Lawnmower Man. Apart from directing many other feature films, he is involved with innovating immersive content production for the emerging virtual mediums of the Metaverse era. Shannon Leonard is a video editor, YouTube creator and VR early adopter.Original theme music by Gregg Leonard.Send your questions on Twitter @directorleonard and @shannonleonard. Thanks for listening! New episodes every week. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatisthemetaverse.substack.com